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Monday, June 11, 2012

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today continued her fight to ensure Farm Service
Agency offices remain accessible for Missouri’s farmers and ranchers.

The Farm Bill being currently debated in the
Senate would protect agriculture jobs and reduce the national deficit by $23
billion by streamlining and consolidating federal programs and ending
unnecessary farm subsidies, while preserving important resources
for farm and ranch families and strengthening the crop insurance
program—critical to the livelihoods of Missouri’s farmers and ranchers.

McCaskill has introduced an amendment that
would prevent the closure of a Farm Service Agency (FSA) office unless another
office is located within 20 miles driving distance.

“The Farm Bill is another one of those opportunities to
ensure that the voices of families in our small towns and rural communities are
heard in Washington,” said McCaskill, who was born in Rolla, Mo. “Not everyone
in Congress knows what it means to be from rural America—but as someone who
does, I plan to keep up my fight to protect jobs in our ag industry, to guard
against any unreasonable regulations on our farm and ranch families, and to
preserve access to crucial resources that our small towns rely upon.”

Farmers and ranchers visit FSA offices for
assistance with various farm programs, including payment programs, loan
services, disaster programs, and conservation programs. In the 2008 Farm Bill,
Congress placed limitations on the ability of the Secretary of
Agriculture to close FSA offices limiting closures to those
offices within 20 miles of another FSA office to avoid placing unreasonable
travel burdens on farmers and ranchers.

However, that legislation did not specify that
the twenty mile requirement refers to driving distance, as opposed to distance
measured in a straight line. Ignoring the clear intent of the 2008 bill, the
U.S. Department of Agriculture is attempting to abuse this technicality to close
down additional FSA offices in states across the country, including one in
Morgan County that is a twenty-six mile drive from the next nearest office, but
less than 20 miles away “as the crow flies.”

McCaskill has already been active on the Farm
Bill, last week introducing an amendment ensuring that a program
designed to increase broadband access in rural Missouri didn’t have its
resources wasted through diversions to large metropolitan areas.

A copy of McCaskill’s amendment to protect
Missourians access to Farm Service Agencies is available HERE.

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